Being about to retire finally from public life, I beg leave to
offer you my grateful thanks for the many proofs of kindness
and confidence which I have received at your hands. It has
been my fortune, in the discharge of public duties, civil and military,
frequently to have found myself in difficult and trying situations
where prompt decision and energetic action were necessary and where
the interest of the country required that high responsibilities should
be fearlessly encountered; and it is with the deepest emotions of
gratitude that I acknowledge the continued and unbroken confidence
with which you have sustained me in every trial. My public life has
been a long one, and I cannot hope that it has, at all times, been free
from errors. But I have the consolation of knowing that, if mistakes
have been committed, they have not seriously injured the country I
so anxiously endeavored to serve; and, at the moment when I sur
render my last public trust, I leave this great people prosperous and
happy; in the full enjoyment of liberty and peace; and honored and
respected by every nation of the world.

If my humble efforts have, in any degree, contributed to preserve
to you these blessings, I have been more than rewarded by the honors
you have heaped upon me; and, above all, by the generous confidence
with which you have supported me in every peril, and with which
you have continued to animate and cheer my path to the closing hour .
of my political life. The time has now come when advanced age and
a broken frame warn me to retire from public concerns; but the recollection of the many
favors you have bestowed upon me is engraven
upon my heart, and I have felt that I could not part from your
service
without making this public acknowledgment of the gratitude I
owe
you. And if I use the occasion to offer to you the counsels of
age and
experience, you will, I trust, receive them with the same indulgent
kindness which you have so often extended to me; and will, at least,
see in them an earnest desire to perpetuate, in this favored land, the
blessings of liberty and equal laws.

We have now lived almost fifty years under the Constitution framed
by the sages and patriots of the Revolution. The conflicts in which
the nations of Europe were engaged during a great part of this period;
the spirit in which they waged war against each other; and our intimate commercial
connections with every part of the civilized world,
rendered it a time of much difficulty for the Government of the
United States. We have had our seasons of peace and of war, with all
the evils which precede or follow a state of hostility with powerful
nations. We encountered these trials with our Constitution yet in its
infancy, and under the disadvantages which a new and untried Government must always
feel when it is called upon to put forth its whole
strength, without the lights of experience to guide it or the weight of
precedents to justify its measures. But we have passed triumphantly
through all these difficulties. Our Constitution is no longer a doubtful
experiment; and, at the end of nearly half a century, we find that it
has preserved unimpaired the liberties of the people, secured the
rights of property, and that our country has improved and is flourishing beyond any
former
example in the history of nations.

In our domestic concerns there is everything to encourage us; and
if you are true to yourselves, nothing can impede your march to the
highest point of national prosperity. The States which had so long
been retarded in their improvement by the Indian tribes residing in
the midst of them are at length relieved from the evil; and this unhappy
raceÄthe original dwellers in our landÄare now placed in a situation where we may well
hope that they will share in the blessings of
civilization and be saved from that degradation and destruction to
which they were rapidly hastening while they remained in the States;
and while the safety and comfort of our own citizens have been greatly
promoted by their removal, the philanthropist will rejoice that the
remnant of that ill-fated race has been at length placed beyond the
reach of injury or oppression, and that the paternal care of the General Government will
hereafter watch over them and protect them.

If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find our condition equally gratifying.
Actuated by the sincere desire to do justice
to every nation and to preserve the blessings of peace, our intercourse with them has been
conducted on the part of this Government
in the spirit of frankness, and I take pleasure in saying that it has
generally been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties of old
standing have been surmounted by friendly discussion and the mutual
desire to be just; and the claims of our citizens, which had been long
withheld, have at length been acknowledged and adjusted, and satis-
factory arrangements made for their final payment; and with a
limited and, I trust, a temporary exception, our relations with every
foreign power are now of the most friendly character, our commerce
continually expanding, and our flag respected in every quarter of the
world.

These cheering and grateful prospects and these multiplied favors
we owe, under Providence, to the adoption of the Federal Constitu-
tion. It is no longer a question whether this great country can
remain happily united and flourish under our present form of government.Experience, the
unerring test of all human undertakings, has
shown the wisdom and foresight of those who formed it; and has
proved that in the union of these States there is a sure foundation for
the brightest hopes of freedom and for the happiness of the people.
At every hazard and by every sacrifice, this Union must be preserved.

The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety for the preservation
of the Union was earnestly pressed upon his fellow citizens by the
Father of his country in his farewell address. He has there told us
... .
that "while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be
reason to distrust the patriotism of those
who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bonds"; and he has
cautioned us, in the strongest terms, against the formation of parties
on geographical discriminations, as one of the means which might
disturb our union, and to which designing men would be likely to
the resort.

The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Washington to
his countrymen should be cherished in the heart of every citizen to
the latest generation; and, perhaps, at no period of time could they
be more usefully remembered than at the present moment. For
when we look upon the scenes that are passing around us, and dwell
upon the pages of his parting address, his paternal counsels would
seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom and foresight, but the
voice of prophecy foretelling events and warning us of the evil to
come. Forty years have passed since this imperishable document was
given to his countrymen. The Federal Constitution was then regarded
by him as an experiment, and he so speaks of it in his address; but
an experiment upon the success of which the best hopes of his country
depended, and we all know that he was prepared to lay down his
life, if necessary, to secure to it a full and a fair trial. The trial has
been made. It has succeeded beyond the proudest hopes of those who
framed it. Every quarter of this widely extended nation has felt its
blessings and shared in the general prosperity produced by its adoption. But amid this
general prosperity and splendid success, the
dangers of which he warned us are becoming every day more evident
and the signs of evil are sufficiently apparent to awaken the deepest
anxiety in the bosom of the patriot. We behold systematic efforts
publicly made to sow the seeds of discord between different parts of
the United States and to place party divisions directly upon geographical distinctions; to
excite the south against the north and the
north against the south; and to force into the controversy the most
delicate and exciting topics, topics upon which it is impossible that
a large portion of the Union can ever speak without strong emotion.
Appeals, too, are constantly made to sectional interests in order to
influence the election of the Chief Magistrate, as if it were desired
that he should favor a particular quarter of the country instead of
fulfilling the duties of his station with impartial justice to all; and the
possible dissolution of the Union has at length become an ordinary
and familiar subject of discussion. Has the warning voice of Washington been forgotten? or
have designs already been formed to sever
the Union? Let it not be supposed that I impute to all of those who
have taken an active part in these unwise and unprofitable discussions a want of patriotism
or of public virtue. The honorable feeling
of State pride and local attachments find a place in the bosoms of
the most enlightened and pure. But while such men are
conscious of
their own integrity and honesty of purpose, they ought never
to forget that the citizens of other States are their political brethren;
and that, however mistaken they may be in their views, the great
body of them are equally honest and upright with themselves.
Mutual
suspicions and reproaches may in time create mutual hostility,
and
artful and designing men will always be found, who are ready to
to
foment these fatal divisions and to in¡lame the natural jealousies
of
different sections of the country. The history of the world is full
of
such examples and especially the history of republics.

What have you to gain by division and dissension? Delude not
yourselves with the belief that a breach once made may be after
wards repaired. If the Union is once severed, the line of
separation
will grow wider and wider, and the controversies which are
now
debated and settled in the halls of legislation will then be tried in
fields of battle and determined by the sword. Neither should
you
deceive yourselves with the hope that the first line of separation
would
be the permanent one, and that nothing but harmony and
concord
would be found in the new associations formed upon the
dissolution
of this Union. Local interests would still be found there, and
unchas
tened ambition. And if the recollection of common dangers in
which
the people of these United States stood side by side against the
com
mon foe; the memory of victories won by their united valor; the
prosperity and happiness they have enjoyed under
the present Con
stitution; the proud name they bear as citizens of
this great republic;
if all these recollections and proofs of common
interest are not strong
enough to bind us together as one people, what tie
will hold united
the new divisions of empire, when these bonds have been broken and
this Union dissevered? The first line of separation would not last for
a single generation; new fragments would be torn off; new leaders
would spring up; and this great and glorious republic would soon be
broken into a multitude of petty states, without commerce, without
credit; jealous of one another; armed for mutual aggression; loaded
with taxes to pay armies and leaders; seeking aid against each other
from foreign powers; insulted and trampled upon by the nations of
Europe, until, harassed with conflicts and humbled and debased in
I spirit, they would be ready to submit to the absolute dominion of
any military adventurer and to surrender their liberty for the sake of
repose. It is impossible to look on the consequences that would
| inevitably follow the destruction of this Government and not feel
indignant when we hear cold calculations about the value of the
Union and have so constantly before us a line of conduct so well cal
culated to weaken its ties.

There is too much at stake to allow pride or passion to influence
unless he clearly saw that the time had come when a freeman should
prefer death to submission; for if such a struggle is once
begun and
the citizens of any State or States can deliberately intend to do
wrong.
They may, under the influence of temporary excitement or
misguided
opinions, commit mistakes; they may be misled for a time by the
suggestions of self-interest; but in a community so enlightened and
patriotic as the people of the United States, argument will soon make
them sensible of their errors; and, when convinced, they will be ready
to repair them. If they have no higher or better motives to govern
them, they will at least perceive that their own interest requires
them to be just to others as they hope to receive justice at their hands.

But in order to maintain the Union unimpaired, it is absolutely
necessary that the laws passed by the constituted authorities should
be faithfully executed in every part of the country, and that every
good citizen should, at all times, stand ready to put down, with the
combined force of the nation, every attempt at unlawful resistance,
under whatever pretext it may be made or whatever shape it may
assume. Unconstitutional or oppressive laws may no doubt be passed
by Congress, either from erroneous views or the want of due
consideration; if they are within the reach of judicial authority, the remedy
is easy and peaceful; and if, from the character of the law, it is an
abuse of power not within the control of the judiciary, then free discussion and
calm appeals to reason and to the justice of the people
will not fail to redress the wrong. But until the law shall be declared
void by the courts or repealed by Congress, no individual or combination of
individuals can be justified in forcibly resisting its execution. It is impossible that any
Government
can continue to exist upon any other principles. It would cease to be a Government and
be unworthy of the name if it had not the power to enforce the exe
cution of its own laws within its own sphere of action.

It is true that cases may be imagined disclosing such a settled purpose of
usurpation and oppression on the part of the Government as
would justify an appeal to arms. These, however, are extreme cases,
which we have no reason to apprehend in a Government where the
power is in the hands of a patriotic people; and no citizen who loves
his country would in any case whatever resort to forcible resistance,
unless he clearly saw that the time had come when a freeman should
prefer death to submission; for if such a struggle is once begun and
the citizens of one section of the country arrayed in arms against
those of another in doubtful conflict, let the battle result as it may,
there will be an end of the Union and, with it, an end to the hopes of
freedom. The victory of the injured would not secure to them the
blessings of liberty; it would avenge their wrongs, but they would
themselves share in the common ruin.

But the Constitution cannot be maintained nor the Union preserved
in opposition to public feeling by the mere exertion of the coercive
powers confided to the General Government. The foundations must
be laid in the affections of the people; in the security it gives to life,
liberty, character, and property, in every quarter of the country;
and in the fraternal attachment which the citizens of the several
States bear to one another as members of one political family, mutually
contributing to promote the happiness of each other. Hence the
citizens of every State should studiously avoid everything calculated
to wound the sensibility or offend the just pride of the people of other
States; and they should frown upon any proceedings within their own
borders likely to disturb the tranquillity of their political
bretheren in
other portions of the Union. In a country so extensive as
the United
States and with pursuits so varied, the internal regulations of the
several States must frequently differ from one another in
important
particulars; and this difference is unavoidably increased by
the vary
ing principles upon which the American colonies were
originally
planted; principles which had taken deep root in their
social relations
before the Revolution, and, therefore, of necessity
influencing their
policy since they became free and independent States.
But each
State has the unquestionable right to regulate its own
internal con
cerns according to its own pleasure; and while it does not
interfere;
with the rights of the people of other States or the rights
of the Union,
every State must be the sole judge of the measures proper
to secure
the safety of its citizens and promote their happiness; and
all efforts
on the part of people of other States to cast odium upon
their institu
tions, and all measures calculated to disturb their rights of
property
or to put in jeopardy their peace and internal tranquility
are in direct
opposition to the spirit in which the Union was formed, and must
endanger its safety. Motives of philanthropy may be assigned for
this unwarrantable interference; and weak men may persuade them
selves for a moment that they are laboring in the cause of humanity
and asserting the rights of the human race; but everyone, upon sober
reflection, will see that nothing but mischief can come from these
improper assaults upon the feelings and rights of others. Rest assured
that the men found busy in this work of discord are not worthy of
your confidence and deserve your strongest reprobation.

In the legislation of Congress, also, and in every measure of the
General Government, justice to every portion of the United States
should be faithfully observed. No free Government can stand without
virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of patriotism; and if the sordid
feelings of mere selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to be
filled by public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be con-
verted into a scramble for personal and sectional advantages. Under
our free institutions, the citizens of every quarter of our country are
capable of attaining a high degree of prosperity and happiness without
seeking to profit themselves at the expense of others; and every such
attempt must in the end fail to succeed, for the people in every part
of the United States are too enlightened not to understand their
own rights and interests and to detect and defeat every effort to gain
undue advantages over them; and when such designs are discovered,
it naturally provokes resentments which cannot always be easily
allayed. Justice, full and ample justice, to every portion of the United
States should be the ruling principle of every freeman and should
guide the deliberations of every public body, whether it be State or
national.

It is well known that there have always been those amongst us who
wish to enlarge the powers of the General Government; and experience would seem to
indicate that there is a tendency on the part of
this Government to overstep the boundaries marked out for it by the
Constitution. Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for all
the purposes for which it was created; and its powers being expressly
enumerated, there can be no justification for claiming anything beyond
them. Every attempt to exercise power beyond these limits should
be promptly and firmly opposed. For one evil example will lead to
other measures still more mischievous; and if the principle of construc
tive powers, or supposed advantages, or temporary circumstances, shall ever be permitted
to justify the assumption of a power not given by the Constitution, the General Government
will before long absorb
all the powers of legislation, and you will have, in effect, but one
consolidated Government. From the extent of our country, its diversi
fied interests, different pursuits, and different habits, it is too obvious
for argument that a single consolidated Government would be wholly
inadequate to watch over and protect its interests; and every friend
of our free institutions should be always prepared to maintain unim-
paired and in full vigor the rights and sovereignty of the States and
to confine the action of the General Government strictly to the
sphere of its appropriate duties.

There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on the Federal
Government so liable to abuse as the taxing power. The most pro
ductive and convenient sources of revenue were necessarily given to
it, that it might be able to perform the important duties imposed
upon it; and the taxes which it lays upon commerce being concealed
from the real payer in the price of the article, they do not so readily
attract the attention of the people as smaller sums demanded from
them directly by the tax gatherer. But the tax imposed on goods
enhances by so much the price of the commodity to the consumer,
and, as many of these duties are imposed on articles of necessity
which are daily used by the great body of the people, the money
raised by these imposts is drawn from their pockets. Congress has
no right, under the Constitution, to take money from the people
unless it is required to execute some one of the specific powers intrusted
o the Government; and if they raise more than is necessary for such
purposes, it is an abuse of the power of taxation and unjust and I
oppressive. It may, indeed, happen that the revenue will sometimes
exceed the amount anticipated when the taxes were laid. When,
however, this is ascertained, it is easy to reduce them; and, in such
a case, it is unquestionably the duty of the
Government to reduce them, for no circumstances can justify it in assuming
a power not
given to it by the Constitution nor in taking away the
money of
the people when it is not needed for the legitimate wants of the
Government.

Plain as these principles appear to be, you will yet find that there
is a constant effort to induce the General Government to go beyond
the limits of its taxing power and to impose unnecessary burdens
upon the people. Many powerful interests are continually at work
to procure heavy duties on commerce and to swell the revenue beyond
the real necessities of the public service; and the country has already
felt the injurious effects of their combined influence. They succeeded
in obtaining a tariff of duties bearing most oppressively on the agri
cultural and laboring classes of society and producing a revenue that
could not be usefully employed within the range of the powers con
ferred upon Congress; and, in order to fasten upon the people this
unjust and unequal system of taxation, extravagant schemes of
internal improvement were got up in various quarters to squander
the money and to purchase support. Thus, one unconstitutional
measure was intended to be upheld by another, and the abuse of the
power of taxation was to be maintained by usurping the power of
expending the money in internal improvements. You cannot have
forgotten the severe and doubtful struggle through which we passed
When the Executive Department of the Government, by its veto,
endeavored to arrest this prodigal scheme of injustice, and to bring
back the legislation of Congress to the boundaries prescribed by the
Constitution. The good sense and practical judgment of the people,
when the subject was brought before them, sustained the course of
the Executive; and this plan of unconstitutional expenditure for the
purpose of corrupt influence is, I trust, finally overthrown.

The result of this decision has been felt in the rapid extinguishment
of the public debt and the large accumulation of a surplus in the treas
ury, notwithstanding the tariff was reduced and is now very far
below the amount originally contemplated by its advocates. But,
rely upon it, the design to collect an extravagant revenue and to
burden you with taxes beyond the economical wants of the Govern
ment is not yet abandoned. The various interests which have com
bined together to impose a heavy tariff and to produce an overflowing
treasury are too strong and have too much at stake to surrender the
contest. The corporations and wealthy individuals who are engaged
in large manufacturing establishments desire a high tariff to increase
their gains. Designing politicians will support it to conciliate their
favor and to obtain the means of profuse expenditure for the purpose
of purchasing influence in other quarters; and since the people have
decided that the Federal Government cannot be permitted to employ
its income in internal improvements, efforts will be made to seduce
and mislead the citizens of the several States by holding out to them
the deceitful prospect of benefits to be derived from a surplus revenue
collected by the General Government and annually divided among
the States. And if, encouraged by these fallacious hopes, the States
should disregard the principles of economy which ought to charac-
terize every republican Government and should indulge in lavish
expenditures exceeding their resources, they will, before long, find
themselves oppressed with debts which they are unable to pay, and
the temptation will become irresistible to support a high tariff in order
to obtain a surplus for distribution. Do not allow yourselves, my
fellow citizens, to be misled on this subject. The Federal Government
cannot collect a surplus for such purposes without violating the prin-
ciples of the Constitution and assuming powers which have not been
granted. It is, moreover, a system of injustice, and, if persisted in,
uill inevitably lead to corruption and must end in ruin. The surplus
revenue will be draun from the pockets of the people, from the farmer,
the mechanic, and the laboring classes of society; but who will receive
it when distributed among the States, where it is to be disposed of
bv leading State politicians who have friends to favor and political
partisans to gratify? It will certainly not be returned to those who
paid it and who have most need of it and are honestly entitled to it.
There is but one safe rule, and that is to confine the General Govern-
ment rigidly within the sphere of its appropriate duties. It has no
power to raise a revenue or impose taxes except for the purposes enu-
merated in the Constitution; and if its income is found to exceed
these wants, it should be forthwith reduced, and the burdens of the
people so far lightened.

In reviewing the conflicts which have taken place between different interests in the United
States and the policy pursued since the adop
tion of our present form of government, we find nothing that has
produced such deep-seated evil as the course of legislation in relation
to the currency. The Constitution of the United States unquestionably
intended to secure to the people a circulating medium of gold and
silver. But the establishment of a national bank by Congress with
the privilege of issuing paper money receivable m the payment of
the public dues, and the unfortunate course of legislation in the several
States upon the same subject, drove from general circulation the con
stitutional currency and substituted one of paper in its place.

It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pursuits of busi-
ness, whose attention had not been particularly drawn to the subject,
to foresee all the consequences of a currency exclusively of paper;
and we ought not, on that account, to be surprised at the facility
with which laws were obtained to carry into effect the paper system.
Honest and even enlightened men are sometimes misled by the spe-
cious and plausible statements of the designing. But experience has
now proved the mischiefs and dangers of a paper currency, and it
rests with you to determine whether the proper remedy shall be
applied.

The paper system being founded on public confidence and having
of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great and sudden fluctuations;
thereby rendering property insecure and the wages of labor unsteady
and uncertain. The corporations which create the paper money can-
not be relied upon to keep the circulating medium uniform in amount.
In times of prosperity when confidence is high, they are tempted by
the prospect of gain, or by the influence of those who hope to profit
by it to extend their issues of paper beyond the bounds of discretion
and the reasonable demands of business. And when these issues have
been pushed on from day to day until public confidence is at length
shaken, then a reaction takes place, and they immediately withdraw
the credits they have given; suddenly curtail their issues; and produce
an unexpected and ruinous contraction of the circulating medium
which is felt by the whole community. The banks by this means save
themselves, and the mischievous consequences of their imprudence or
cupidity are visited upon the public. Nor does the evil stop here.
These ebbs and flows in the currency and these indiscreet extensions
of credit naturally engender a spirit of speculation injurious to the
habits and character of the people. We have already seen its effects
in the wild spirit of speculation in the public lands and various kinds
of stock which, within the last year or two, seized upon
such a multi-
tude of our citizens and threatened to pervade all classes
of society
and to withdraw their attention from the sober pursuits of
honest
industry. It is not by encouraging this spirit that we shall
best pre-
serve public virtue and promote the true interests of our
country. But
if your currency continues as exclusively paper as it now
is, it will
foster this eager desire to amass wealth without labor; it
will multiply
the number of dependents on bank accommodations and
bank favors;
the temptation to obtain money at any sacrifice will
become stronger
and stronger, and inevitably lead to corruption which will
find its way into your public councils and
destroy, at no distant
day, the
purity of your Government. Some of the evils which arise
from this
system of paper press with peculiar hardship upon the
class of society least able to bear it. A portion of this
currency frequently
becomes depreciated or worthless, and all of it is
easily
counterfeited in such
I a manner as to require peculiar skill and much experience
to dis-
tinguish the counterfeit from the genuine note. These
frauds are most
generally perpetrated in the smaller notes, which are used
in the
daily transactions of ordinary business; and the losses
occasioned by
them are commonly thrown upon the laboring classes of
society whose
I situation and pursuits put it out of their power to guard
themselves
from these impositions and whose daily wages are
necessary for their
subsistence. It is the duty of every Government so to
regulate its
currency as to protect this numerous class as far as
practicable from
the impositions of avarice and fraud. It is more especially
the duty
of the United States where the Government is
emphatically the
Government of the people, and where this respectable
portion of our
citizens are so proudly distinguished from the laboring
classes of all
other nations by their independent spirit, their love of liberty, their
intelligence, and their high tone of moral character. Their
industry
in peace is the source of our wealth; and their bravery in war has
covered us with glory; and the Government of the United States will
but ill discharge its duties if it leaves them a prey to such dishonest
impositions. Yet it is evident that their interests cannot be effectu
ally protected unless silver and gold are restored to circulation.

These views alone of the paper currency are sufficient to care for
immediate reform; but there is another consideration which should
still more strongly press it upon your attention.

Recent events have proved that the paper money system of this
country may be used as an engine to undermine your free institutions;
and that those who desire to engross all power in the hands of the
few and to govern by corruption or force are aware of its power and
prepared to employ it. Your banks now furnish your only circulating
medium, and money is plenty or scarce according to the quantity of
notes issued by them. While they have capitals not greatly dispro-
portioned to each other, they are competitors in business, and no one
of them can exercise dominion over the rest; and although, in the
present state of the currency, these banks may and do operate injuri-
ously upon the habits of business, the pecuniary concerns, and the
moral tone of society; yet, from their number and dispersed situation,
they cannot combine for the purpose of political influence; and what-
ever may be the dispositions of some of them, their power of mischief
must necessarily be confined to a narrow space and felt only in their
immediate neighborhoods.

But when the charter for the Bank of the United States was obtained
from Congress, it perfected the schemes of the paper system and
gave to its advocates the position they have struggled to obtain from
the commencement of the Federal Government down to the present
hour. The immense capital and peculiar privileges bestowed upon it
enabled it to exercise despotic sway over the other banks in every
part of the country. From its superior strength it could seriously
injure, if not destroy, the business of any one of them which might
incur its resentment; and it openly claimed for itself the power of
regulating the currency throughout the United States. In other
words, it asserted (and it undoubtedly possessed) the power to make
money plenty or scarce, at its pleasure, at any time, and in any
quarter of the Union, by controlling the issues of other banks and per-
mitting an expansion or compelling a general contraction of the circu
lating medium according to its own will. The other banking institu
tions were sensible of its strength, and they soon generally became its
obedient instruments, ready, at all times, to execute its mandates;
and with the banks necessarily went, also, that numerous class of
persons in our commercial cities who depend altogether on bank
credits for their solvency and means of business; and who are, there
fore, obliged for their own safety to propitiate the favor of the money
power by distinguished zeal and devotion in its service. The result
of the ill-advised legislation which established this great
monopoly
was to concentrate the whole moneyed power of the
Union, with its
boundless means of corruption and its numerous
dependents, under
the direction and command of one acknowledged head;
thus organ
izing this particular interest as one body and securing to it
unity and
concert of action throughout the United States and
enabling it to
bring forward, upon any occasion, its entire and undivided
strength
to support or defeat any measure of the Government. In
the hands
of this formidable power, thus perfectly organized, was
also placed
unlimited dominion over the amount of the circulating
medium,
giving it the power to regulate the value of property and
the fruits of
labor in every quarter of the Union and to bestow
prosperity or bring
ruin upon any city or section of the country as might best
comport
with its own interest or policy.

We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power,
thus organ
ized and with such a weapon in its hands, would be likely
to use it.
The distress and alarm which pervaded and agitated the
whole coun
try when the Bank of the United States waged war upon
the people
in order to compel them to submit to its demands cannot
yet be for
gotten. The ruthless and unsparing temper with which
whole cities
and communities were oppressed, individuals impoverished
and ruined,
and a scene of cheerful prosperity suddenly changed into
one of
gloom and despondency ought to be indelibly impressed on
the mem-
ory of the people of the United States. If such was its power in
a
time of peace, what would it not have been in a season of war
with
an enemy at your doors? No nation but the freemen of the
United
States could have come out victorious from such a contest;
yet, if
you had not conquered, the Government would have passed
from the
hands of the many to the hands of the few; and this organized
money
power, from its secret conclave, would have dictated the
choice of
your highest officers and compelled you to make peace or war as best
suited their own wishes. The forms of your government might, for
a
time, have remained; but its living spirit would have departed from
it.

The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by the bank
are some of the fruits of that system of policy which is continually
striving to enlarge the authority of the Federal Government beyond
the limits fixed by the Constitution. The powers enumerated in that
instrument do not confer on Congress the right to establish such a
corporation as the Bank of the United States; and the evil conse-
quences which followed may warn us of the danger of departing from
the true rule of construction and of permitting temporary circum
stances or the hope of better promoting the public welfare to influ
ence, in any degree, our decisions upon the extent of the authority
of the General Government. Let us abide by the Constitution as it
is written or amend it in the constitutional mode if it is found to be
defective.

The severe lessons of experience will, I doubt not, be sufficient to prevent
Congress from again chartering such a monopoly, even if the
Constitution did not present an insuperable objection to it. But you
must remember, my fellow citizens, that eternal vigilance by the
people is the price of liberty; and that you must pay the price if you
wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchfu
in your States as well as in the Federal Government. The power
which the moneyed interest can exercise, when concentrated under a
single head, and with our present system of currency, was sufficiently
demonstrated in the struggle made by the Bank of the United States.
Defeated in the General Government, the same class of intriguers and
politicians will now resort to the States and endeavor to obtain there
the same organization which they failed to perpetuate in the Union;
and with specious and deceitful plans of public advantages and State
interests and State pride they will endeavor to establish, in the dif
ferent States, one moneyed institution with overgrown capital and
exclusive privileges sufficient to enable it to control the operations of
the other banks. Such an institution will be pregnant with the same
evils produced by the Bank of the United States, although its sphere
of action is more confined; and in the State in which it is chartered
the money power will be able to embody its whole strength and to
move together with undivided force to accomplish any object it may
wish to attain. You have already had abundant evidence of its power
to inflict injury upon the agricultural, mechanical, and laboring classes
of society; and over those whose engagements in trade or speculation
render them dependent on bank facilities, the dominion of the State
monopoly will be absolute, and their obedience unlimited. With
such a bank and a paper currency, the money power would, in a few
years, govern the State and control its measures; and if a sufficient
number of States can be induced to create such establishments, the
time will soon come when it will again take the field against the
United
States and succeed in perfecting and perpetuating its organization by
a charter from Congress.

It is one of the serious evils of our present system of banking that
it enables one class of society, and that by no means a numerous
one,
by its control over the currency to act injuriously upon the interests
of all the others and to exercise more than its just proportion of
influ
ence in political affairs. The agricultural, the mechanical, and the
laboring classes have little or no share in the direction of the great
moneyed corporations; and from their habits and the nature of their
pursuits, they are incapable of forming extensive combinations to act
together with united force. Such concert of action may sometimes be
produced in a single city or in a small district of country by means
of
personal communications with each other; but they have no regular
or active correspondence with those who are engaged in similar
pur
suits in distant places; they have but little patronage to give to the
press and exercise but a small share of influence over it; they have
no crowd of dependents above them who hope to grow rich
without
labor by their countenance and favor and who are, therefore,
always
ready to exercise their wishes. The planter, the farmer, the
mechanic,
and the laborer all know that their success depends upon their own
industry and economy and that they must not expect to become
sud
denly rich by the fruits of their toil. Yet these classes of society form
the great body of the people of the United States; they are the bone
and sinew of the country; men who love liberty and desire nothing
but equal rights and equal laws and who, moreover, hold the great
mass of our national wealth, although it is distributed in moderate
amounts among the millions of freemen who possess it. But, with
overwhelming numbers and wealth on their side, they are in constant
danger of losing their fair influence in the Government and with dif-
ficulty maintain their just rights against the incessant efforts daily
made to encroach upon them. The mischief springs from the power
which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which
they are able to control; from the multitude of corporations with
exclusive privileges which they have succeeded in obtaining in the
different States and which are employed altogether for their benefit;
and unless you become more watchful in your States and check this
spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will, in the
end, find that the most important powers of Government have been
given or bartered away, and the control over your dearest interests
has passed into the hands of these corporations.

The paper money system and its natural associates, monopoly and
exclusive privileges, have already struck their roots deep in the soil;
and it will require all your efforts to check its further growth and to
eradicate the evil. The men who profit by the abuses and desire to
perpetuate them will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in the
General Government as well as in the States and will seek, by every
artifice, to mislead and deceive the public servants. It is to yourselves
that you must look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetu-
ating your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully placed the
sovereignty of the country and to you every one placed in authority
is ultimately responsible. It is always in your power to see that the
wishes of the people are carried into faithful execution, and their will,
when once made known, must sooner or later be obeyed. And while
the people remain, as I trust they ever will, uncorrupted and incor-
ruptible and continue watchful and jealous of their rights, the Govern-
ment is safe, and the cause of freedom will continue to riumph over
all its enemies.

But it will require steady and persevering exertions on your part
to rid yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs of the paper system
and to check the spirit of monopoly and other abuses which have
sprung up with it and of which it is the main support. So many
interests are united to resist all reform on this subject that you must
not hope the conflict will be a short one nor success easy. My humble
efforts have not been spared, during my administration of the Govern
ment, to restore the constitutional currency of gold and silver; and
something, I trust, has been done towards the accomplishment of this
most desirable object. But enough yet remains to require all your
energy and perseverance. The power, however, is in your hands, and
the remedy must and will be applied, if you determine upon it.

While I am thus endeavoring to press upon your attention the
principles which I deem of vital importance in the domestic concerns
of the country, I ought not to pass over, without notice, the important
considerations which should govern your policy toward foreign
powers. It is, unquestionably, our true interest to cultivate the most
friendly understanding with every nation and to avoid by every -
honorable means the calamities of war; and we shall best attain
object by frankness and sincerity in our foreign intercourse, by
prompt and faithful execution of treaties, and by justice and
tialitv in our conduct to all. But no nation, however desirous of
can hope to escape occasional collisions with other powers; and
soundest dictates of policy require that we should place
a condition to assert our rights if a resort to force should
necessary. Our local situation, our long line of seacoast,
numerous bays, with deep rivers opening into the interior, as
our extended and still increasing commerce, point to the
natural means of defense. It will, in the end, be found to be the cheap
est and most effectual; and now is the time, in a season of
peace, and
with an overflowing revenue, that we can, year after year,
add to
its strength without increasing the burdens of the people. It
is your
true policy. For your navy will not only protect your rich
and flour-
ishing commerce in distant seas, but will enable you to reach
and
annoy the enemy and will give to defense its greatest
efficiency by
meeting danger at a distance from home. It is impossible by
any line
of fortifications to guard every point from attack against a
hostile
force advancing from the ocean and selecting its object; but
they are
indispensable to protect cities from bombardment, dock
yards and
naval arsenals from destruction; to give shelter to merchant
vessels in
time of war, and to single ships or weaker squadrons when
pressed
by superior force. Fortifications of this description cannot be
too soon
completed and armed and placed in a condition of the
most perfect
preparation. The abundant means we now possess
cannot be applied
in any manner more useful to the country; and when
this is done and
our naval force sufficiently strengthened and our militia
armed, we
need not fear that any nation will wantonly insult us or
needlessly
provoke hostilities. We shall more certainly preserve
peace when it
is well understood that we are prepared for war.

In presenting to you, my fellow citizens, these parting counsels, I
have brought before you the leading principles upon which I endeav-
ored to administer the Government in the high office with which
you twice honored me. Knowing that the path of freedom is con
tinually beset by enemies who often assume the disguise of friends,
I have devoted the last hours of my public life to warn you of the
danger. The progress of the United States under our free and happy
institutions has surpassed the most sanguine hopes of the founders of
the Republic. Our growth has been rapid beyond all former example,
in numbers, in wealth, in knowledge, and all the useful arts which
contribute to the comforts and convenience of man; and from the
earliest ages of history to the present day, there never have been
thirteen millions of people associated together in one political body
who enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people of these
United States. You have no longer any cause to fear danger from
abroad; your strength and power are well known throughout the
civilized world, as well as the high and gallant bearing of your sons.
It is from within, among yourselves, from cupidity, from corruption,
from disappointed ambition, and inordinate thirst for power, that
factions will be formed and liberty endangered. It is against such
designs, whatever disguise the actors may assume, that you have
especially to guard yourselves. You have the highest of human trust
committed to your care. Providence has showered on this favored
land blessings without number and has chosen you as the guardian
of freedom to preserve it for the benefit of the human race. May
He who holds in his hands the destinies of nations make you worthy
of the favors He has bestowed and enable you, with pure hearts and
pure hands and sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend to to the end of time the great charge he
has committed to your keeping.

My own race is nearly run; advanced age and failing health warn
me that before long I must pass beyond the reach of human event
and cease to feel the vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank God that
my life has been spent in a land of liberty and that He has given me
a heart to love my country with the affection of a son. And, filled
with gratitude for your constant and unwavering kindness, I bid you
a last and affectionate farewell.